Tuesday, June 18, 2013

The world's leading authority on the Beatles - and author of the bestselling Beatles Recording Sessions - has completed the riveting first volume in a groundbreaking trilogy about the iconic band that changed the face of pop music. Tune In uncovers the lives of John, Paul, George and Ringo as never before.

Forget what you've read or know about the Beatles, tune in, and start anew.

This is the lesser-known Beatles story - the pre-Fab years of Liverpool and Hamburg - and in many respects the most absorbing, extraordinary and incredible period of all. Here is the warts and all story of their family backgrounds, childhoods, and their infatuation with American music. As Tune In chronicles in amazing nuance, everything comes together in these years and in this one book: the Beatles' talent, charisma, looks, sex appeal, personalities, honesty, humor, attitude - and the Lennon-McCartney partnership.

Their enduring fame and legendary exploits have led to countless biographies of the Beatles, but now we have the ultimate portrait. Tune In is the first book in a genre-defining trilogy, telling the story of the Beatles from before their beginning up to the final night of 1962, with success within their grasp and on the cusp of a whole new kind of celebrity.

Monday, June 17, 2013

The Beatles exploded into British popular culture in the 1960s and changed the face of music for ever. Central to this success were the BBC radio and television programmes that brought them from the clubs of Hamburg and Liverpool into the living rooms of an adoring public. The Beatles performed on countless BBC programmes, performing both their hit songs and rare cover versions of the music that inspired them.

In this landmark book, BBC producer and Beatles expert Kevin Howlett delves deep into the BBC archives to reveal hundreds of rare photographs and long-forgotten interviews that document the early rise, steady evolution and eventual split of the group. Uncovering additional archive documents such as early audition reports, audience feedback forms and internal memos from startled BBC executives, the files give a fascinating insight into the biggest band of all time.

Beautifully packaged and extensively researched, The Beatles: The BBC Archives is a definitive guide to a unique relationship between two cultural icons.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Eagle Rock Entertainment releases The Rolling Stones’ Crossfire Hurricane on DVD and Blu-ray. Crossfire Hurricane is the kaleidoscopic new film that documents the key periods of the Rolling Stones’ career and their incredible journey.

Directed by Brett Morgen, Crossfire Hurricane provides a remarkable new perspective on the Stones’ unparalleled journey from blues-obsessed teenagers in the early 60’s to rock royalty. It’s all here in panoramic candor, from the Marquee Club to Hyde Park, from Altamont to Exile, from club gigs to stadium extravaganzas.

With never-before-seen footage and fresh insights from the band themselves, the film will delight, shock and amaze longtime devotees, as well as a new generation of fans, with its uniquely immersive style and tone. Crossfire Hurricane places the viewer right on the frontline of the band’s most legendary escapades.

As befits the first rock band to reach the 50-year milestone with their global stature now greater than ever, the film combines extensive historical footage, much of it widely unseen, with contemporary commentaries by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts,Ronnie Wood and former Stones Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor. Period interviews, extensive live performance material and news archives give the production a truly kinetic aura and no-holds-barred approach.

Bonus features on the DVD and Blu-Ray include previously unreleased concert footage - “Live in Germany ‘65”, NME Poll Winners concert footage from 1964 and 1965, a new interview with director Brett Morgen, “The Sound and Music of Crossfire Hurricane”, footage from The Arthur Haynes Show (1964), and the theatrical trailer

Crossfire Hurricane received its worldwide premiere at the London Film Festival in October, where Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood all hit the red carpet to the delight of fans and media from all around the world. The film received a similar premiere in the U.S. the following month, hosted by HBO at the Ziegfeld Theatre.

Asked in a formative interview in the film what it is that sets them apart from other groups, Jagger says with quiet understatement: “A chemical reaction seems to have happened.” Keith Richards added, “You can't really stop the Rolling Stones, you know when that sort of avalanche is facing you, you just get out of the way.” It’s been happening ever since, and the life and times of the Rolling Stoneshave never been as electrifyingly portrayed as they are in Crossfire Hurricane.

Tuesday, April 02, 2013

Q: Paul's bike accident in '66. I know he hid his chipped tooth during filming of 'Paperback Writer' and 'Rain' and was a reason (apparently) for growing his mustache in late '66. My question is, 'When did he get his tooth fixed..?' Did he receive a cap in early '67 or what..? It seemed like it looked perfectly natural, and dentistry back in '67 could not have been THAT good, especially in England.

This is an interesting question, as it brings together a few aspects of Beatles history. Paul was visiting his father on December 26, 1965 in Wirral, near Liverpool, when he fell off his moped and suffered a minor laceration to his lip and chipped one of his front teeth. This event later served as a jumping-off point for the Paul Is Dead rumors, though they didn't get the date right (most started looking for clues as early as Sgt. Pepper and not Revolver).

"I had a very good friend who lived in London called Tara Browne, a Guinness heir - a nice Irish guy, very sensitive bloke. I'd see him from time to time, and enjoyed being around him. He came up to visit me in Liverpool once when I was there seeing my dad and brother. I had a couple of mopeds on hire, so we hit upon the bright idea of going to my cousin Bett's house.

"We were riding along on the mopeds. I was showing Tara the scenery. He was behind me, and it was an incredible full moon; it really was huge. I said something about the moon and he said 'yeah', and I suddenly had a freeze-frame image of myself at that angle to the ground when it's too late to pull back up again: I was still looking at the moon and then I looked at the ground, and it seemed to take a few minutes to think, 'Ah, too bad - I'm going to smack that pavement with my face!' Bang!"

According to John Lennon, a news story in the Daily Mail about Tara Browne dying in a car accident later became the inspiration for him in writing the opening lines to "A Day in the Life."

This event was far from a secret at the time, with Brian Epstein in 1966 mentioning the accident and saying that "I told him three times he should do something about it. It is in a place where there are no nerve ends, so there is no pain. Paul assured me that he would have the tooth capped, but -- unfortunately -- he has not done so. (Could he be afraid of the dentist?) It is my opinion that he will just let it be."

You can see Paul's chipped tooth in the promo videos below (shot May 19-20) for "Paperback Writer" and "Rain," as he had not capped them by this point.

By June, Paul had capped the tooth, with the NME's Alan Smith reporting that "I looked but I couldn't see anything. A perfect mend. Only a small scar remains on his lip as a souvenir." Apparently dentistry back then was that good.

As you noted, the scar on his lip was behind his growing a mustache, which in turn inspired the other Beatles to grow theirs. According to Paul, "It was pretty embarrassing, because around that time you knew your pictures would get winged off to teeny-boppery magazines like 16, and it was pretty difficult to have a new picture taken with a big fat lip. So I started to grow a moustache - a sort of Sancho Panza - mainly to cover where my lip had been sewn. It caught on with the guys in the group: if one of us did something like growing his hair long and we liked the idea, we'd all tend to do it. And then it became seen as a kind of revolutionary idea, that young men of our age definitely ought to grow a moustache! And it all fell in with the Sgt Pepper thing, because he had a droopy moustache."

Paul McCartney's tooth was in the news again nearly 40 years later, in 2005, when the cap fell off and required dental care.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Monday, March 25, 2013

JAMES McCARTNEY
LIVE AT THE AMBASSADORS
AT THE AMBASSADORS THEATRE
WEDNESDAY 27 MARCH 2013 AT 8.00PM

Sally Humphreys is delighted to announce that James McCartney will present an exclusive
live preview of his forthcoming US Tour at the Ambassadors Theatre on Wednesday 27 March
at 8.00pm. Tickets on sale now.

Following a year that introduced him to international success in 2012, James McCartney
now heads towards an exciting and unprecedented 2013 – a year that will see him release
his first full-length album and embark on a forty-seven date, twenty-seven state tour of the
USA, to be followed by a number of additional shows and appearances across Europe.
He will perform an exciting preview of this tour at the Ambassadors Theatre in London on
Wednesday 27 March at 8.00pm.

Accompanying himself on guitar and piano, McCartney's soaring vocals, songwriting and
musicianship will take centre stage in this powerful and intimate setting. McCartney is fresh
off the release of his two digital-only EPs, “Available Light” and “Close At Hand”, as well
as his first physical release “The Complete EP Collection”, a special two-disc package that
includes the debut EPs in their entirety along with five bonus tracks.

Now, James McCartney is set to release his first full-length album “Me, May 21st” on ECR
Music Group.

"For my first album I wanted to make a record that would be intimate, deeply personal, and honest”
says McCartney. “An album that would say, 'This is who I am...both musically and personally. This
is me.'"

For further press information on this one-off performance at the Ambassadors
Theatre please contact:
Mark Senior on 07446 169 997 or mark@markseniorpr.com
For all other enquiries for James McCartney and the US Tour please contact:
ECR Music Group, 332 Bleecker Street #K144, New York, NY 10014
Tel / Fax (212) 620-7344 | ecrmusicgroup.comwww.jamesmccartney.com